Hot Rod Race
Composer(s): George Wilson
Performer(s): Arkie Shibley;
and various other artists



Now me and my wife and my brother Joe
took off in my Ford from San Pedro
We hadn't much gas 'n' the tires was low
but the doggone Ford could really go

Now along about the middle of the night
we were rippin' along like white folks might
when a Mercury behind he blinked his lights
and he honked his horn and he flew outside

We had twin pipes and a Columbia butt
you people may think that I'm in a rut
but to you folks who don't dig the jive
that's two carburetors and an overdrive

We made grease spots outta many good town
and left the cops heads spinnin' round 'n' round
They wouldn't chase, they'd run and hide
but me and that Mercury stayed side by side

Now we were Ford men and we likely knew
that we would race until somethin' blew
and we thought it over
now, wouldn't you?

I looked down at my lovely bride
her face was blue, I thought she'd died
We left streaks through towns about forty feet wide
but me and that Mercury stayed side by side

My brother was pale, he said he was sick
he said he was just a nervous wreck
But why should I worry, for what the heck
me and that Mercury was still neck-and-neck

Now on through the deserts we did glide
a-flyin' low and a-flyin' wide
me an' that Mercury was a-takin' a ride
and we stayed exactly side by side

Now I looked in my mirror and I saw somethin' comin'
I thought it was a plane by the way it was a-runnin'
It was a-hummin' along at a terrible pace
and I knew right then it was the end of the race

When it flew by us, I turned the other way
the guy in the Mercury had nothin' to say
for it was a kid, in a hopped up Model-A